Who's Orin?
by Littleshopofaudrey
Summary: Seymour and Audrey's daughter asks a difficult question.


It was a quiet Sunday morning in the Krelborn house. Rarely did Seymour have to travel for work but when he did, his absence was truly felt. He had only been gone two days but those two days were torture. His wife, Audrey, hated having to sleep without him next to her. Their seven year old daughter, Lucy, missed him most on a morning when he wasn't there to cut her toast into triangles. Audrey did it instead but it wasn't the same for Lucy, she claimed it "tastes better when Daddy does it."

Audrey was braiding Lucy's hair when they heard a knock at the door. Before she could move, Lucy jumped up with an enthusiastic "I'll get it!"

"Daddy!" Audrey heard Lucy cry from the other room.

"Seymour?" With that, she rose to her feet and went to the door. He wasn't expected back until tomorrow morning. She turned the corner and saw him standing with his briefcase under one arm and their daughter under the other. "Seymour!" She practically ran towards him and gave him a quick kiss on the mouth; however, it was long enough to elicit a disgusted groan from Lucy. "What are you doing back so soon?" She beamed.

"What can I say? I missed my girls too much and I _demanded_ to return to them!" He ruffled Lucy's half done hair and secretly turned his head to Audrey, mouthing "The lecture was cut short." She gave an understanding head nod in response.

The family spent the rest of their Sunday together. They baked cookies, they burnt cookies, they watched TV, did a little gardening. It was idyllic.

"I think I'm going to take a bath. Will you two be okay without me for a little while?" Seymour and Lucy looked at one another then back at Audrey, giving her exaggerated puppy dog eyes. She couldn't help but giggle. "What am I going to do with the two of you?" And she strolled off into the bathroom.

"What do you say we surprise your Mom and wash the dishes for her?" Seymour suggested.

"Yay! Can I dry them though? Please? Please?" She asked jumping up and down. He'd never seen a child so excited at the concept of chores.

"Of course, come on." And they retreated into the kitchen.

A little time later, Lucy was absentmindedly drying a plate when Seymour noticed that she looked a little down. She spoke before he could ask her what was wrong. "Daddy, can I ask you something?"

"Anything!" He took the plate out of her hand and placed it on the counter.

"Who's Orin?" Seymour's heart dropped. His hands began to sweat. His legs began to tremble.

"W-What do you mean? W-Where have you heard that name?" He was trying to appear as nonchalant as possible but he hadn't acquired a very convincing poker face.

"It's just every time you're away for work, Mama screams about him when it's dark. She'll shout 'stop, Orin' or 'Orin, that hurts' but there's never anybody with her? Is it her imaginary friend?" Seymour has no idea. Audrey struggled with nightmares for the first couple of months that they were adjusting but he hadn't heard her mention that dreaded name for years.

Seymour took a deep breath and thought carefully about how to answer her "He is kind of like an imaginary friend, yeah. But not a nice one. When Daddy isn't here, he thinks he can be mean to Mom but when Daddy is here, he doesn't even try to go near her. And he'll never, ever bother you."

"Then why can't you always be here? And keep him away from Mommy to protect her?" He felt a twinge of sadness, like he was responsible for Audrey's sadness. But he remembered his responsibilities, his work, providing for his family. They were necessary.

"You wanna know a secret? Mommy doesn't always need me here. To be honest, she's even braver than I am. And she does a pretty great job of protecting herself. She's the best, isn't she?"

"Yeah but I didn't know she was brave, too!" Lucy looked gobsmacked.

"She's the bravest! She's both the princess _and_ the knight." Seymour would always be in awe of how someone could be so beautiful yet so strong. His wife was a marvel to him.

"What's all this?" Audrey came into the kitchen in her bathrobe to see a pile of clean, glistening dishes.

"You're the best, Mommy!" Lucy ran into her mother's arms.

"Yes, you are." Seymour smiled at her.

That night, he got into bed and pulled Audrey into his arms. He kissed her neck and whispered "I love you." In that moment, she was given back what she had missed for an excruciating two nights. And that night, it was Seymour's name she screamed, for all the right reasons.


End file.
